Bass club anglers qualifying for three B.A.S.S. Nation Regional tournaments in 2018 will have an unusual opportunity at the host fisheries – they might encounter a "10" during the competition.
Two of the fisheries, Clear Lake in California and Toledo Bend Reservoir on the Louisiana-Texas border, are known for producing bass weighing 10 or more pounds. The Pee Dee and Santee river basins out of Winyah Bay, S.C., where the B.A.S.S. Nation Eastern Regional will be held, aren't as likely to produce double-digit bass, but there's a good chance anglers there will see a 10-foot alligator, said Jon Stewart, B.A.S.S. Nation national director.
Stewart announced the 2018 schedule for the Western, Central and Eastern regionals, which are part of the B.A.S.S. Nation Series. They are qualifying events for the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship, from which the three top finishers will earn spots in the 2019 Bassmaster Classic.
"It's bound to be exciting for our B.A.S.S. Nation anglers to be able to fish Toledo Bend, where they might catch the bass of a lifetime," Stewart said. "We should be there at prime time, too."
The Central Regional will be held March 7-9 out of Many, La. The Western Regional will be May 23-25 on Clear Lake out of Clearlake, Calif., and the Eastern Regional will be June 20-22 on Winyah Bay.
"At Clear Lake, too, you have the potential of catching a 10-pound bass every time you throw a bait out there," Stewart added. "Anglers will love it, and we'll be there at a good time of year. Competitors in the eastern tournament will enjoy Georgetown, which has been a great host for our past tournaments. The fishing will be different from the other two regionals — bass don't get as big there — but anglers from Maine and other places in the Northeast might see their first alligators."
In the regional tournaments, 20-angler teams from 47 states and the province of Ontario compete within their respective geographic divisions. The Central and Eastern tournaments will each include 380 anglers, and the Western event, which comprises fewer states, will draw 220.
